1925 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS 83 



Appendix No. 40 



REPORT OF THE FORESTRY BRANCH, 1924 



Sir, — The report of the work of this Branch for the year ending October 

 31st, 1924, is given under the sections of Forest Fire Protection, Air Operations, 

 Reforestation, Forest Investigation and Forest Pathology. 



I. Forest Fire Protection 



(1) Legislation 



A Bill was passed in 1924 making several amendments to the Forest Fires 

 Prevention Act of 1917 which briefly are as follows: — 



1. The close season for the setting out of fire is extended from the fifteenth 

 to the first day of April. 



2. Officers of the Department have the right to summon assistance for the 

 purpose of controlling and extinguishing any forest fire. 



3. The unauthorized destruction of, injury to, or removal of any equipment 

 placed for forest fire protection purposes is unlawful. 



4. Owners of property are required to protect their property against injury 

 by fire, and in addition to a penalty for failure to do so are made liable for any 

 expenses incurred by the Department in so protecting their property. 



5. The destruction of inflammable debris resulting from right-of-way 

 clearing, or from any operations within three hundred feet of the right-of-way 

 of any railway, or within three hundred feet of camps, mines, saw mills, portable 

 or stationary engines using fuel other than oil and located within one-half mile 

 of any forest or woodland, is made compulsory. 



6. The accumulation of inflammable debris within one-half mile of any 

 village, town or city is made prohibitive, as well as the felling of trees or brush 

 in such a manner that debris would be created on land not owned by the person 

 causing the felling. 



7. The Lieutenant-Governor in Council is given the right to define any 

 forest area within any fire district as a travel permit area and require any person 

 wishing to enter such area during the close season to previously obtain a permit, 

 excepting only those holding a hunting, guide's, fishing or mining license. These 

 latter persons, however, are required to produce their license whenever requested 

 by a fire ranger and to state their proposed routes of travel and camping sites. 



Persons using or travelling in any forest area are also required to furnish 

 to fire rangers when requested their address, routes to be followed, location of 

 camps and any other information pertaining to forest fire protection. 



8. A penalty of not less than $25.00 and not more than $300.00 is provided 

 for violation of any of the above. Also every person who violates any provision 

 of the Act is, in addition to any other penalty, liable to imprisonment for a 

 period not exceeding ninety days. 



Two further changes in the present legislation seem desirable; (1) That 

 subsection two of section seventeen be so amended that any unauthorized 

 person tampering with any Forestry Branch telephone lines be guilty of, an 

 offence; (2) That in clause six of the Regulations, the words "during the close 

 season" be eliminated. 



